A blog, created by the Long Island City/Astoria Alliance (LICA), dedicated to promoting communication, cooperation and organized action on issues of concern to local residents. If you are an Astoria/LIC resident send your stories, issues and concerns to: licalliance@yahoo.com

Recently approved contruction site for yet another hotel in Dutch Kills

The Queens Chronicle reported on June 10 that contruction of a 9 story hotel at 39-35 27th St. in Dutch Kills has been approved by the Board of Standards and Appeals despite the strong opposition of community member expressed at the last regular monthly meeting of the Long Island City Alliance on Tuesday, June 8.

“They are a bunch of crooks over there,” said Barbara Lorinz, president of the Dutch Kills Advocacy League and a life-long resident of the area, regarding the BSA’s decision to allow Manhattan developer, Steven Bahar, to continue construction. All of the top-ranking commissioners on the board are appointed by the mayor. Behar is quoted as saying that new zoning rules “make no sense” and that local politicians are “wimps” succumbing to pressure from residents in order to secure their votes. He further pointed out that there are over a dozen hotels in the area already and that the only reason there are complaints is that his construction is on a residential block.

Megan Dees Friedman, vice-president of the Dutch Kills Advocacy League denied Bahar’s allegations. She said the character of the community was a concern, as was residential proprty values and damage to nearby homes from the contruction site.

Lorinz stressed that Dutch Kills residents are not against all forms of development and that progress must go on. But residents also say they do not want large commercial structures overtaking their two and three family homes.

The Western Queens Gazette reported in a front page article on June 2 that the City Council had approved a Department of City Planning proposal to rezone 238 blocks located within the jurisdiction of Queens Community Board 1. The article went on to note that the proposal was “intended to preserve scale and character” of Astoria’s neighborhoods.

But significantly, the issue of zoning variances was not addressed in the proposal which may allow developers to come in and put up numerous “out of character” buildings like they did in the adjacent community of Dutch Kills in the interim period between the approval and implimentation of new zoning regulations. Dutch Kills has since been overrun by a series of ugly, out of character hotels, that are adding stress to it’s infrastucture.

Then there has been far too little discussion on the drawbacks of the Astoria rezoning plan itself and questions such as whether or not the proposal might permit too greater influx of population into a community that is already over-taxed in terms of its ability to provide basic services and quality of life, whether the study area boundary was arbitrarily drawn and fails to take into account the spillover effect of development and population increase in adjacent communities, whether schools, hospitals, sanitation, energy, fire and police protection for an increased population have been adequately addressed and how the cost of absorbing greater population is to be met and whether that cost is to be borne equitably.

These are the questions that need to be asked and addressed before we can truly say that Astoria has been “saved.”